diff --git a/.claude/settings.json b/.claude/settings.json
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e6f54a3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.claude/settings.json
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+{
+  "hooks": {
+    "PreToolUse": [
+      {
+        "matcher": "Bash|Grep",
+        "hooks": [
+          {
+            "type": "command",
+            "command": "/Users/stwaidele/.local/bin/graphify hook-guard search"
+          }
+        ]
+      },
+      {
+        "matcher": "Read|Glob",
+        "hooks": [
+          {
+            "type": "command",
+            "command": "/Users/stwaidele/.local/bin/graphify hook-guard read"
+          }
+        ]
+      }
+    ]
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index cd36888..ff5c054 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -14,3 +14,6 @@ apps/api/data/
 # Font catalog WOFF2 + generated stylesheet — fetched at build time
 # (ADR 0016, deploy/fonts/build-fonts.mjs), never committed.
 apps/web/public/fonts/
+
+# graphify knowledge graph (generated)
+graphify-out/
diff --git a/CLAUDE.md b/CLAUDE.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..417efeb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CLAUDE.md
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+## graphify
+
+This project has a knowledge graph at graphify-out/ with god nodes, community structure, and cross-file relationships.
+
+Rules:
+- For codebase questions, first run `graphify query "<question>"` when graphify-out/graph.json exists. Use `graphify path "<A>" "<B>"` for relationships and `graphify explain "<concept>"` for focused concepts. These return a scoped subgraph, usually much smaller than GRAPH_REPORT.md or raw grep output.
+- If graphify-out/wiki/index.md exists, use it for broad navigation instead of raw source browsing.
+- Read graphify-out/GRAPH_REPORT.md only for broad architecture review or when query/path/explain do not surface enough context.
+- After modifying code, run `graphify update .` to keep the graph current (AST-only, no API cost).